The Hidden Double
by KeroSoupy
Summary: Twins bring disaster. That much is certain. Fourteen year old Yuui has been hidden all of his life in the attic because of that belief. A recent catastrophe causes the village to believe that he didn't die when he was born and now they're after him. Contains a brotherhood connection, suspense, and the fun Kuro-Fai moments everyone loves.
1. Chapter 1

Yui jumped out of bed and walked over to the boarded window. He heard the carriage door close and the chatter of a few men. He stuck his face up and spied through the small crack in the boards. The mayor was over once again but this time he brought two others with him, two buff men ready to beat up anyone in their path…at least from up at his level they did. He couldn't see their faces too well. Yui drummed his fingers against the wall and watched them approach his house until they were out of sight. Then he pushed himself away from the window and opened the door to his bedroom. He ran down dark steps, through the coat rack, and stuck his ear against the lower door. He heard his parents talking and the mumble of the others' voices but nothing else. He sighed in exasperation as he heard their footsteps fade as they traveled to the lower kitchen level. Every inch of him wanted to rush down the stairs and meet them too. Yui enjoyed talking to people…but he was never given the chance. He was born with a curse and his very existence was to be kept secret. He never left the house more than twice a year and was never allowed to leave the attic during the day. Every part of him itched to get out. His brothers could. Why was only he stuck inside? He trudged back up the stairs into his room in the attic and sat down at his desk where he doodled about all the adventures he would have if he ever escaped.

A tap on the door identified his twin brother. "Yui," he asked, "can I come in?"

Yui stood up and sounded that he was unlocking the door so that Fai would realize that he had been eavesdropping again. He opened the door and grinned. "Welcome to the Yui D. Flourite Room and Board. What can I offer you today?" he joked.

His brother smiled half-heartedly. "Yui, I need to tell you something," he said. He walked in and sat down on the stool by the window. Yui closed and locked the door. He sat back down at his desk and looked to his brother. His twin brother was, well, identical. The only differences were that Fai's skin was tanner and that his eyes instead of being crystal clear like Yui's, they were two shades darker and extremely cloudy. Yui watched as Fai twiddled his thumbs and summoned the courage to spread the news. Finally, he looked his brother square in the eyes and said, "Yui, you need to promise me that you won't tell anyone I told you. You won't even hint at it."

Yui stared at his brother and slowly nodded. "I won't remember a single word."

"Good," Fai said. He grimaced slightly before continuing on. "Catastrophe has struck again."

"What?" Yui gasped. "What happened this time?"

Fai fidgeted in his chair. "A disease is spreading…water and food are getting harder to come by. The mayor has reason to think that it is coming from us." His voice broke.

Yui grew more serious. "What?"

"They don't think you're dead, Yui."

"They thought I was dead for fourteen years!"

"I know, but somebody claims to have spotted you."

Yui put his head down on his desk. He was hidden all of his life and now this had to happen.

Fai tried to smile for his brother. "It'll be alright. Dad says that it'll pass."

"Do you remember Mrs. Johnson?" Yui mumbled.

Fai lost his smile. "Yes."

"Five years ago, a pair of twins entered the family. Not even a day after they were born, one of them was taken away. For weeks afterward Mrs. Johnson wouldn't even get out of bed. You could hear her screaming all the way from over here," Yui paused. "Why do they always take the younger twin? Why do they always blame the younger twin? What's wrong with being a twin?" He started shaking violently and tears escaped his eyes.

"I don't know," his brother said. Yui felt his brother's eyes on him. This wasn't the first time he had broken down from this.

"We received a couple of transfer students today at school," Fai told him to change the subject. "Most of them are here because of the war."

Yui wiped his face with his sleeve. "I'm glad they're not blaming us for that."

Their mother called them from below. "Fai!" she yelled. "Time for dinner! Don't bring any of your homework to the table! Your father wants your participation in the dinner conversation!"

That was code for 'Don't come down with Yui. We have company for dinner.'

"I'll bring you up some afterwards," Fai said. He stood up and walked over to the door. "Don't worry too much, okay Yui? I'm certain they already think otherwise."

Yui nodded. "Thanks, Fai."


	2. Chapter 2

Yui had an idea. He slowly opened the door and tiptoed down the stairs. He silently made his way down the hall and into his brother's room. Taking out one of Fai's jackets, he opened the window and slipped out onto the branch of a nearby tree. Lucky for him the shadows made by the setting sun hid him from the view of others. He carefully climbed down the tree and the moment he touched the ground he broke into a run. Laughing as he ran down the street he only turned to look back once. Why hadn't he thought of this before? If his parents somehow managed to find out about this…well, Yui pushed that thought aside and continued walking through town. He saw everything with wonder. A small and simple food stand was set up in the main square. People of all sorts of ages and sizes barreled past him. A couple of times he was almost run over by horses, carriages, and wheel barrels. His pulse quickened. How anyone managed to survive an average day on the busy and crazy streets, he didn't know. He was lucky to survive with the noise. Still he continued on his way until he found the entrance to the short cut through the woods that Ototen and Fai told him about. Smiling and wanting to share with his brothers on how he walked through there too, he laughed and entered.

Snow began to fall heavily as he trudged his way through the dark cold trees. He shivered and considered turning back. Spinning around, he realized that everything looked the same. Not a single building was in sight. "Great," he said. "Now I'm really gonna get it. How did I manage to get utterly lost?"

Not wanting to freeze, he spun around and walked in the direction he stopped on. "Hyuu…" he whistled (or tried to at least). In reply, the sound of a small bell echoed around him. "Hello?" he called. "Is anyone here?" He waited and heard no human reply, but the bell once sounded again. He closed his eyes to focus his mind and took off in the direction he felt it was coming from. The small bell began ringing more frequently and Yui sped to a sprint. Abruptly, the ringing stopped and Yui did as well. He looked at his surroundings once again to realize he had only gone further into the woods. He sighed and rubbed his arms. "It's colder out here than it gets in the attic," he said to himself.

"Hey!" A voice shouted from behind him. Yui froze. He was spotted. He considered diving behind a tree. If anyone found out that he was out here, he would be in deep trouble.

Amidst the troubled thoughts that raced through his mind, he received the message that someone was poking him. He jumped as a reflex and spun around, falling face first into the snow. He looked up. A boy about his age stared down at him with two great fiery eyes. Yui smiled widely to cover up his fear. "You scared me!" he declared.

The other boy grunted. "Are you lost?" he asked. A few strands of his dark, spiked hair fell in his face. The boy ignored them and pressed on. "What are you doing out here dressed only in a light jacket and a thin pair of slacks? Don't you know it's freezing?"

"I was in a hurry," Yui replied, "and I'm not lost. I've lived here my entire life!"

"In the woods?"

Yui looked down at his hands and blushed with embarrassment. Lucky for him his face was already red from the cold that the other boy didn't notice. "I was only out for a little fresh air," he said.

The boy looked at his wearily then turned away. "Then if you know what you're doing, I'll just be on my way."

Yui impulsively cried out, "Wait…Perhaps you could just point out the direction of town. I-I really am lost." He reached out and grabbed a hold of the other boy's arm.

The boy shrugged him off quickly. "Alright! Just don't touch me! Town is that way." He pointed in the opposite direction Yui had been walking. He wiped his arm where Yui had touched as if it burned him. "I guess I do remember seeing you at school," the boy stated after a while.

Yui nodded. "That's me! I'm Fai!" he lied. "And you are?"

"Kurogane."

"Kurogane? That's a long name. Mind if I call you Kurgy?" Yui chuckled.

"You'll call me Kurogane."

"Alright, Kurgy!" Yui smiled and noticed the boys hands curl into fists.

"You call me that again and I'll leave you here."

"You were going to take me back? How kind of you Kuropuu!"

"Shut up!"

Kurogane turned and walked off silently. Yui followed skipping. He enjoyed bothering this guy. It got his mind away from home. Yui swallowed. He hoped his parents wouldn't notice he was gone just yet. He felt the silence go on with an unfriendly and suspicious air. He decided to break it. "Brr…" he said. "It's cold! Are you cold, Kuro-snow?"

"It's Kurogane, you freak!" Kurogane retorted.

"Wah! Kuro-meany called me a freak!"

"I don't remember you being this annoying at school."

"I'm only trying to hold a nice conversation!"

"Nice conversation? Is that what you call this, balloon head? You're only getting on my nerves!"

"Oooh… Is Kuro-furo angry?"

"I'm done. Hold a conversation with yourself."

"But then people with think I'm crazy!"

"I'm already convinced."

"You're so mean!" Yui stuck his tongue out at the back of the other boy's head. This was too much fun and such a great opportunity. Now he could ask him about the real world. He pressed his pace to match Kurogane's. "You're not from around here are you, Kurgy?"

Kurogane grunted.

"Where are you from? Does it get this cold all of the time too? Is there a lot of people? Are they all nice? Do you have a family? Why did you come here? Did you get in trouble? Are you on the run? What did you do? Are you here because of the war? Do you think it's ever going to end? Do you miss your home?"

"Shut up!" Kurogane snapped. He swung his fist around. Yui saw it and ducked just in time. He danced around a couple of other punches and laughed. He never knew how much fun it was to have friends. Besides, his parents would notice if he returned with some bruises.

"Are you always this annoying?" Kurogane asked him once he was through with trying to hit him. They had finally made it into town.

"Are you always this grumpy?" Yui asked. He chuckled as the other boy turned away in frustration. He would take that as a yes.


	3. Chapter 3

It was early the next morning when his mother came to wake him for breakfast. She led him down the stairs with her scented candles. It smelled like roasted almonds, his mother's favorite. Looking around him, Yui noticed that the shutters were closed, as they always were when he was about the house. The place was always pitch-dark and it was always before sunrise. He yawned and sat down at the table.

"You missed dinner last night," his mother said. "Fai tried to bring you some up, but you were already asleep. Are you feeling well?"

Yui nodded. "Yup! It was just one of those lazy days." Like it always was, he thought. He didn't dare say that in front of his mother though; she would be brokenhearted.

She set a bowl of oatmeal in front of him. "Your father went out last night. The mayor wanted him to check on something. One of the houses at the east end of town seems to have caved in."

"That's awful," Yui said. "You don't think that will happen to us, do you?" He tried to figure out a way to ease into the subject of last night's talk but nothing came to mind.

"Don't you even think thoughts like that," his mother scolded him.

"Sorry," Yui replied.

To his rescue, Fai walked in. He took his seat across from his brother.

"Good morning, Fai," greeted his mother. "Is Otot awake yet?"

"I believe he is," Fai replied. As if on cue, their older brother Otot trudged sleepily into the room. He sat down next to Yui and poured himself a glass of milk. His dirty blonde hair completely offset the twins' platinum color. His bright hazel eyes gleamed and appeared to be the only part of him that was fully awake.

"The teacher is going to assign us a group for our history projects today," Fai said as warning to his mother that people might be over later in the week to work on it. "It's supposed to be a full out presentation on the topic of our choice. We can do it whatever way we want to."

"That sounds wonderful," his mother replied.

Yui hastily shoved a spoonful of oatmeal in his mouth. He knew his brother didn't mean to rub in the fact that he could have friends, but still, Yui was extremely jealous.

A key turned in the lock upstairs in the foyer which made the entire room go silent.

"Dear, I'm home!" his father called down to them. That was code for he had brought someone with him.

"One moment, darling," their mother replied. She ushered Yui out of his chair. Fai flew down to the ground and lifted the rug off of the floor. His mother opened the floor boards beneath it and helped Yui slip inside. He watched as the light faded away. A number of holes were inserted around the house in case an emergency like this happened. Yui tried his best to quiet his breathing and paid close attention to the footsteps coming down the stairway.

"Good morning," a stranger spoke. "My name is Arayashi Souma. I'm the new town physician. I'm sorry to arrive without past warning, but the mayor insisted that I come to your house to check on everyone. You see, there is a virus spreading quickly throughout the area caused from a contamination of something in the water. Luckily, a vaccine has been made in hopes of preventing it from striking the town full blast. That's why I am here." The stranger set down a bag on the table most likely filled with the supplies. "I hope you don't mind if I treat all of you now?"

"Of course not," his father said. "We would be most grateful."

"Wonderful," the doctor replied. "Is everyone present?"

A small silence filled the room as his parents were contemplating on whether or not to tell the man about Yui. Finally his father answered, "All of us are here."

"Which one of you would like to go first?"

"The children, of course," his mother said.

A rustling occurred as Fai got up to sit by the physician to receive the vaccine. One by one his family got up to get it. A small conversation went on overhead about the virus. Yui managed to pick up that there was still a chance. A chance he wouldn't catch it. A chance the vaccine wouldn't work. A chance that nothing would occur at all. Unfortunately, he couldn't get his mind with the conversation up above him. Instead his mind wandered to yesterday's events. He silently shifted beneath the floor boards and fell asleep once again.


End file.
